How is memory allocated to a dedicated server process ? I just opened a
sqlplus connection ( no SQL fired!), did ps -elf | grep <pid> on the server
pid, which showed sz: 592M, RSS: 558. There are about 800 server
processes running at that time ( the box has 10G physical mem, of which
about 2GB was free at that time. Solaris 8 . Oracle version :9.2.0.4 ).

I hate when management comes to me with questions like you mention about
this new hardware handling the workload.
But, I have a response now that I love because it can be confusing to them.
I simply ask, "Why?".
Why are they looking at new hardware? Does the current hardware not handle
the workload? Is there a forthcoming app server/database upgrade that will
require more resources? Are they scaling out their current utilization,
perhaps to more users? Are they adding more databases? I know this may not
seem like the best attitude and trust me, I love newer, faster hardware more
than most, but really the justification for new hardware should come before
the shopping for hardware. In my role as a DBA, I should be the one (or, of
course, the sys admins) that recognizes the need for hardware upgrades and
hopefully before management starts to feel the need. If I can't quantify
the need for new servers or additional hardware (or software for that
matter), I actually speak against it. This way, when I tell them we need
something, they listen!
Just one guy's 2 cents.
However, you mention a bottleneck on the SAN controllers. That is a big red
flag. There's always a chance (and some would argue a very good chance)
that faster processors and more memory will make this SAN controller
bottleneck worse or at least more noticeable. Hopefully, additional
channels to the SAN are being considered with this new box as well.

Good luck!

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